Its name has become a sinister shorthand for the fear of violence seeping across America’s borders. MS-13, or “Mara Salvatrucha,” is one of the largest gangs in the world, a menace in several countries and a frequent target of President Trump’s rhetoric. Its violent grip in Central America is one of the forces driving thousands of migrants to flee for the U.S. — which, ironically, is where the gang got its start.

The Trump administration
refers to MS-13 as “violent animals,” and Mr. Trump often invokes MS-13’s
gruesome acts of violence to justify hardline policies against
immigration.

“This is a crisis.
You have human trafficking, you have drugs, you have criminals coming in, you
have gangs, MS-13. We’re taking them out by the thousands and bringing ’em
back,” the president said last week.

In recent months, migrants
from the Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador — have headed
to the U.S.’s southern border in much-publicized caravans to flee rampant
violence and poverty. In 2017, there were close to 4,000 homicides in El
Salvador, a nation of about 6 million people. Though that’s down from over
6,600 killings in 2015, El Salvador still has one of the highest murder rates in
the world.

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The Rational Middle® Energy Series is sponsored by Shell Oil Company (Shell) and Center for Houston's Future. The views expressed as part of the Rational Middle® Energy Series may not necessarily reflect the views of Shell, CHF or any of their affiliates.